Florida politics, policy, and plain-spoken analysis by Gary Fineout.

Blaise Ingoglia

January 22, 2018

LATVALA DONATIONS....Five years ago in the immediate aftermath of the Allied Veterans of the World charity gambling scandal, the Republican Party of Florida donated $300,000 to a veterans charity. That was the same amount that Allied Veterans had given the state party. The party made the move after the arrests of dozens of people connected to Allied Veterans and the resignation of then-Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll. (Carroll was never charged with any wrongdoing and in the end no one did any lengthy jail time in connection with the incident.)

But times have changed.

Republican Party of Florida chairman Blaise Ingoglia says that his party will not return - or offset with a charitable donation - the money that the party has received from a political committee controlled by former State Sen. Jack Latvala. Latvala resigned after a investigation concluded there was probable cause that he had engaged in sexual misconduct. Latvala has denied any wrongdoing, but the matter has been turned over to state law-enforcement authorities.

Latvala's political committee has donated $190,000 since late 2015 - and gave $100,000 in the final quarter of 2017. It's been well-documented that the party isn't raising as much money as it used to because Gov. Rick Scott and Senate Republicans have their own fundraising organizations now. Latvala himself promised to help the party out amid those reports.

In an interview, Ingoglia says that money from Latvala has already been spent or budgeted by the party. But he also argues that it will be .put to good use by the party.

"I would say that the money being used in the Republican Party coffers, helping to get Republicans elected and putting the infrastructure in place for 2018 is probably a better use for the money,'' Ingoglia said.

Campaign records show that Bittel during his time as chairman gave more than $212,000 to the party. In the months ahead of the 2016 election, Bittel also donated $150,000.

OFFICE FOR SALE...One of Tallahassee's most influential lobbying firms - Ballard Partners - recently moved from a historic home on Park Avenue to a brand new office building located at the corner of Park and Monroe Street.

Property records show that Ballard's old offices was bought for $1.35 million by Rubus Idaeus LLC. That's a company that was set up by Tallahassee attorneys Tor Friedman and Eric Abrahamsen. The firm, which has moved into the old Ballard Partners office, handles criminal defense cases, employment law, and personal injury cases.

The roster of attorneys at the firm also includes Tiffany Cruz, who has been in the news lately because she is representing Rachel Perrin Rogers, the Senate employee who filed a formal complaint against Latvala that led to his resignation.

The firm is also representing Farhan "Ronny" Armed - one of the victims at the 2014 shooting at Florida State University who was paralyzed as a result- in a lawsuit against the FSU Board of Trustees. The lawsuit that was filed last year contends that FSU was negligent in providing security.

Kathryn Ballard is a member of the FSU trustees and is married to well-known lobbyist Brian Ballard who runs Ballard Partners. Property records show that both Kathryn and Brian Ballard were listed as co-owners of the office building that was acquired by Rubus Idaeus.

WAITING FOR THE NUMBERS....For the third time this decade, Florida legislators are holding their annual legislative session in January.

One of the prime reasons for the move was that legislators said they liked being able to spend spring break with their children instead of spending it in the halls of the state Capitol.

This year, however, the timing is causing a bit of a potential hiccup.

House and Senate budget writers are having to start work on a new 2018-19 budget without the latest estimates on tax collections. That's because state economists have pushed back the date of their annual estimating conference until Feb. 9th, the fifth week of session.

Amy Baker, one of the main economists, said the reason is primarily due to Hurricane Irma. Irma ripped through the state in September and was responsible for nearly 100 deaths and caused widespread devastation.

Baker explained that sales tax collection data received by the economists generally has a lag in it. So the economists are waiting for a new round of data that will be released Jan. 25th that will show December tax collections, but in reality is more an accurate reflection of November sales.

If economists had scheduled their conference earlier, it was "too close to the hurricane to be useful to us." Baker said that the additional month gives economists "cleanly into the recovery period." The House and Senate agreed to the change, but in order to keep the session on schedule they will begin work on new budgets prior to getting the updated numbers.

This could create a scenario where budget negotiators have to change the budget during the conference period where House and Senate legislators work out differences.

But Sen. Rob Bradley, the Senate budget chief, last week said he was not concerned that the new numbers would show big changes from the previous forecast.

June 12, 2017

When Florida legislators wrapped up their special session Friday, the Republican leaders who guide the state appeared happy and sounded happy.

But after so much finger-pointing, after Gov. Rick Scott using television ads and campaign-styled events to criticize GOP legislators for pushing what he called job-killing legislation, after Senate Republicans saying enough is enough....will the simmering feud that exploded dramatically into public view the last few months finally end?

To recap: The three-day special session successfully ended after the House, Senate and Scott crafted a deal that gave Scott some of his top budget priorities -full funding for Visit Florida, money for a new business economic development fund, money for repairs to the aging Lake Okeechobee dike. Legislators also boosted overall funding to the state's public schools by $215 million - or $100 more per student.

Senate President Joe Negron, who appeared ready to blow up the session after saying the Senate had gotten left out of the negotiations, got the House to agree to set aside $60 million in university projects that had been vetoed by Scott just days before. (Scott for his part says he will accept them now.)

House Speaker Richard Corcoran got....well....

Publicly he stated that he got an overhaul of the economic development system where there are no more "winners and losers" because the new $85 million fund created for Scott cannot go to one specific company. Corcoran contended that the new approach in Florida will be far-reaching and will prompt other states to overhaul their economic development efforts. That same bill put in place changes for both Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida.

Of course the Legislature passed a bill during its regular session that also put in sweeping changes to Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida. Scott has said he will veto that bill, but he didn't say that until after Corcoran had pledged to put up more money for economic development efforts than the legislators did the regular session. The plain fact is if Scott had vetoed the initial bill passed by the Legislature then both Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida would have been completely dismantled for the coming year.

That has led to speculation - some of it suggested sort of by Negron - that part of the deal between Corcoran and Scott includes the governor signing a contentious education bill known as HB 7069. This bill is an amalgamation of education policy that was put together during private negotiations at the end of the session. It was included as a budget conforming bill, meaning it could not be amended by other legislators, and barely passed by just one vote in the Florida Senate.

This education legislation touches on everything from testing to recess to extra money for the state scholarship program that helps disabled children. But it also steers state and federal money to charter schools, which are public schools but are privately-run, including sometimes by for-profit management companies. School superintendents, school boards, and other advocacy groups have called for a veto. Those who support charters and vouchers have called for the governor to sign it.

Scott and Corcoran have both said publicly that the governor did not promise to sign it as part of the special session agreement.

When asked point blank if there were a "quid pro quo," Scott quickly retorted he was still "reviewing" the bill. Corcoran has only said that he is "optimistic" that the governor will sign the legislation.

Scott also publicly contended that House Republicans retreated during the special session because he had gone into their hometowns and publicly criticized them.

"If you saw what happened, I traveled the state...for five and six months. I went and sold it and explained to people that this is what’s going on in session,'' Scott said. "I think everybody came to the conclusion this was good for our state."

(Now, please note - just because Scott says he didn't promise to sign the bill does not mean that Scott's staff did not promise. Scott's new chief of staff Jackie Schutz Zeckman met personally with Corcoran's chief of staff amid the negotiations that led to the special session deal. Zeckman doesn't officially take over until July 1 - but outgoing chief of staff Kim McDougal made the decision for ethical reasons to wall herself off from special session items and other high-profile matters.)

PATH FORWARD

So the question moving forward is this...if Scott does in fact sign the education bill - and the governor does in fact sign another high profile bill, SB 374 that is a top priority for Negron, it would theoretically put the relationship between all sides on a better foundation than it has been.

Remember, this GOP feud has been going on _ and building in intensity _ essentially since Scott got re-elected. Shortly after he was sworn into office for a second term Republicans blocked his pick to lead the Republican Party of Florida. Since then Scott for the most part stopped raising money for the party - which is controlled by Rep. Blaise Ingoglia, an ally of Corcoran.

The House and Senate had several meltdowns in 2015 as they bickered over Medicaid expansion and a way to end redistricting battles that were being fought in the courts. In 2016, led by Corcoran, the Legislature shredded much of Scott's agenda for that year. They rejected his ambitious deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Flash forward and Scott got a much better outcome during the special session than it appeared he was going to get this year. The governor talked about how he couldn't wait to go out across the state and "brag" about what happened.

But is there any longevity to it?

There are numerous examples that once someone gets sideways with Scott it's hard to get back in his good graces. (Consider the cold distance that separates Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and Scott.)

Now of course next year is an election year - and there's a possibility that Scott, Corcoran and even Negron could be on the 2018 ballot. That could lead to a more amicable session and the prospect of everyone working hand-in-hand.

Let's not forget, however, the House-Senate relationship remains fragile. The night before the special session ended Negron went on a 30-minute plus lecture with the press where he expressed frustration that the Senate had stood alongside with Scott the last few months yet in the end it was Corcoran and Scott making amends and cutting the Senate out.

Corcoran himself over the weekend hinted things remain complicated.

He tweeted out that he was trying to explain his relationship with the Senate to his kids and he said "Taylor Swift nails it." He linked to a video of Swift singing "Out of the Woods" where she explains before performing it that that it was about a relationship where she constantly felt "anxiety" and was worrying about the "next roadblock."

The lyrics in the song include the lines: "We were built to fall apart/then fall back together...Are we out of the woods yet, are we out of the woods, are we in the clear?"

So what could cause things to fall apart?

There's a whole litany of them, including whether Scott decides to veto the higher education overhaul pushed by Negron, or if Corcoran pursues items that Scott doesn't want to be involved with during an election year.

What if Gov. Scott, while running for the U.S. Senate, is on the ballot at the same time there's a sweeping proposal to eliminate property taxes and increase sales taxes in its place. (This was a centerpiece of then-House Speaker Marco Rubio's tax reform proposals when Corcoran was his chief of staff. This proposal briefly popped up last year in the House.)

Scott is also taking on an increased national role - taking the helm of a Republican super PAC and assuming a leadership position with the Republican Governors Association - that could take up more of his time and focus away from state matters.

Then there's the dynamic in the Senate itself which at times seems fluid. The GOP caucus in that chamber is often divided and it's not always clear who is in the loop. Will Republican senators remain loyal to Negron as his power begins to ebb during his second session?

"Are we out of the woods yet, are we out of the woods, are we in the clear yet?"

July 17, 2016

Despite that fact that many of the state's 99 Florida delegates supported other candidates ahead of the primaries none of them have been wishing out loud that someone else besides DonaldTrump was the presumptive GOP nominee. No talk of blocking delegates from attending or lawsuits.

Yet while the delegation will certainly follow the rules and give all 99 Florida votes to Trump a lot of questions remain about the state of the party and the fact that top Republicans in the state are divided into factions.

There's a whole long list of things to consider (including the fact that former Gov. Jeb Bushand his staunchest supporters aren't on board with Trump) but let's just start with the strange situation with the Republican primary for U.S. Senate after incumbent U.S. Sen.Marco Rubio went back on his oft-repeated promise to not to run for election.

Most of the other GOP candidates jumped out once Rubio changed his mind. But Manatee County homebuilder and political newcomer Carlos Beruff didn't. And that was just fine with GOP governor Rick Scott, who came close to endorsing Beruff over Rubio (seen here campaigning for Scott's re-election.) (Also worth noting: Rubio has not been endorsed by Florida Attorney GeneralPam Bondi, who has a speaking slot at the convention.)

Yet at the same time - Scott's own lieutenant governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera is now actively campaigning for his good friend Rubio and against Beruff.

Adding to this mix was the suggestion - although knocked down by the Beruff campaign - that maybe, just maybe Beruff was staying in the race against Rubio not to win - but to build his name recognition in a possible bid for governor in 2018.

Scott, talking to one of his former top aides, even chimed in and said that "my experience with Carlos is, whatever he puts his mind to, he’s going to be successful. Whether that’s trying to make sure his customers get what they want, or anything else, Carlos will be successful.”

For those not completely immersed in inside Capitol Circle talk - that's a shot at the presumed campaign of Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. The icy relationship between Putnam and Scott goes back years. You can bet there are people whispering to Putnam that he needs to be prepared so that he isn't "McCollumed" - a reference to the fact that then Attorney General Bill McCullom was considered a shoo-in for the GOP nomination for governor in 2010 until Scott jumped in at the last minute and self-funded his campaign.

Then there's the whole money thing for all Republicans.

Despite having no announced plans beyond 2018, Scott keeps raising money for his Let's Get to Work political committee and not the Republican Party of Florida as part of the continued fallout after Ingoglia won the chairmanship back in early 2015 over Scott's own handpicked candidate.

Scott has raised more than $1.8 million so far this year for his committee of which he transferred $95,000 back in January to the party. Yes there's a persistent rumor that Scott may run for U.S. Senate, but it's important to point out under campaign finance laws that Scott can't directly use this money - which is from corporate donations - for a federal race.

Now it's true that the Republican National Committee has put in money into the state that has been used to hire ground staff, but what message does it send to donors and others that the state's leading Republican isn't helping out his own party that much?

Lots of political insiders in Tallahassee keep grumbling about the situation and grumbling whether or not Scott's recalcitrance is diverting resources that could at least pay for certain types of party expenses. And remember the Beruff situation? That could increase pressure on Putnam to raise more money for his political committee. (Putnam did give the state party a $25,000 check in June.)

Of course none of this is totally surprising given the awkward relationship Scott has had since he knocked off McCollum even though the veteran politician had support from many establishment Republicans. In the background are GOP consultants with competing agendas and competing candidates ahead of the 2018 elections.

Maybe it's not a big problem.

After all Florida's Democrats continue to have their own history of problems come election time and the rise-and-fall of presidential campaigns has usually been more dependent on the the actual campaigns and not the state party. (There's still bad blood between state operatives and the campaign of 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney as state people contended Romney's folks ignored their advice ahead of a narrow loss to President Barack Obama.)

But after close to 20 years of GOP domination it's still out of character to see so many fault lines and shifting loyalties.

Add it all up and it could matter in a swing state where only a few thousand - or few hundred ballots - can make a difference in the leader of the free world.